Quentin Matsys was a painter in the Flemish tradition and a founder of the
Antwerp schoolThe Antwerp School is a term for the artists active in Antwerp, first during the sixteenth century when the city was the economic center of the Low Countries, and then during the seventeenth century when it became the artistic stronghold of the Flemish Baroque under Peter Paul...
. He was born at
LeuvenLeuven is the capital of the province of Flemish Brabant in the Flemish Region, Belgium. It is located about 30 kilometers east of Brussels, with as other neighbouring cities Mechelen, Aarschot, Tienen, and Wavre.The township comprises the historical city of Leuven and the former municipalities of...
, where he was trained as an ironsmith. Near the front of the Cathedral of Our Lady in
Antwerp||-||-||-||}Antwerp is a city and municipality in Belgium and the capital of the Antwerp province in Flanders, one of Belgium's three regions. Antwerp's total population is 472,071 and its total area is , giving a population density of 2,308 inhabitants per km²...
is a wrought-iron well, known as the "Matsys Well," which according to tradition was made by the painter-to-be.
During the greater part of the 15th century, the centres in which the painters of the
Low CountriesThe Low Countries, the historical region of de Nederlanden, are the countries on low-lying land around the delta of the Rhine, Scheldt, and Meuse rivers...
most congregated were
TournaiTournai is a Walloon city and municipality of Belgium located 85 kilometres southwest of Brussels, on the river Scheldt, in the province of Hainaut....
,
BrugesBruges is the capital and largest city of the province of West Flanders in the Flemish Region of Belgium. It is located in the northwest of the country....
,
GhentGhent is a city and a municipality located in the Flemish region of Belgium. It is the capital and biggest city of the East Flanders province. The city started as a settlement at the confluence of the Rivers Scheldt and Lys and in the Middle Ages became one of the largest and richest cities of...
and
BrusselsBrussels , officially the Brussels Region or Brussels-Capital Region , is the de facto capital city of the European Union and the largest urban area in Belgium...
.
Quentin Matsys was a painter in the Flemish tradition and a founder of the
Antwerp schoolThe Antwerp School is a term for the artists active in Antwerp, first during the sixteenth century when the city was the economic center of the Low Countries, and then during the seventeenth century when it became the artistic stronghold of the Flemish Baroque under Peter Paul...
. He was born at
LeuvenLeuven is the capital of the province of Flemish Brabant in the Flemish Region, Belgium. It is located about 30 kilometers east of Brussels, with as other neighbouring cities Mechelen, Aarschot, Tienen, and Wavre.The township comprises the historical city of Leuven and the former municipalities of...
, where he was trained as an ironsmith. Near the front of the Cathedral of Our Lady in
Antwerp||-||-||-||}Antwerp is a city and municipality in Belgium and the capital of the Antwerp province in Flanders, one of Belgium's three regions. Antwerp's total population is 472,071 and its total area is , giving a population density of 2,308 inhabitants per km²...
is a wrought-iron well, known as the "Matsys Well," which according to tradition was made by the painter-to-be.
During the greater part of the 15th century, the centres in which the painters of the
Low CountriesThe Low Countries, the historical region of de Nederlanden, are the countries on low-lying land around the delta of the Rhine, Scheldt, and Meuse rivers...
most congregated were
TournaiTournai is a Walloon city and municipality of Belgium located 85 kilometres southwest of Brussels, on the river Scheldt, in the province of Hainaut....
,
BrugesBruges is the capital and largest city of the province of West Flanders in the Flemish Region of Belgium. It is located in the northwest of the country....
,
GhentGhent is a city and a municipality located in the Flemish region of Belgium. It is the capital and biggest city of the East Flanders province. The city started as a settlement at the confluence of the Rivers Scheldt and Lys and in the Middle Ages became one of the largest and richest cities of...
and
BrusselsBrussels , officially the Brussels Region or Brussels-Capital Region , is the de facto capital city of the European Union and the largest urban area in Belgium...
. Leuven gained prominence toward the close of this period, employing workmen from all of the crafts. Not until the beginning of the 16th century did Antwerp take the lead which it afterward maintained against Bruges, Ghent, Brussels,
MechelenMechelen is a Dutch-speaking city and municipality in the province of Antwerp, Flanders, Belgium...
and Leuven. Matsys, as a member of Antwerp's
Guild of Saint LukeThe Guild of Saint Luke was the most common name for a city guild for painters and other artists in early modern Europe, especially in the Low Countries. They were named in honor of the Evangelist Luke, the patron saint of artists, who was identified by John of Damascus as having painted the...
, was one of its first notable artists.
Early life
A legend relates how Matsys, while a smith in Leuven, fell in love with the daughter of a painter; by changing his trade to painting, he hoped that she would love him in return. Less poetic but perhaps more likely is another version of the story: Quentin's father, Josse Matsys, was clockmaker and architect to the municipality of Leuven. The question arose as to which of his sons, Quentin or Josse, should follow in this lucrative business. Josse the son elected to succeed the father. Quentin then took up the study of painting.
Style
We are not told expressly by whom Matsys was taught, but his style seems to have derived from the lessons of
Dirk BoutsDieric Bouts, also spelled Dirk, Dierick and Dirck was an Early Netherlandish painter.According to Karel van Mander in his Het Schilderboeck of 1604, Bouts was born in Haarlem and was mainly active in Leuven , where he was city painter from 1468...
, who brought to Leuven the influence of
MemlingHans Memling was a German-born Early Netherlandish painter.- Life and works :...
and
van der WeydenRogier van der Weyden or Rogier de le Pasture is, with Jan van Eyck, considered one of the greatest exponents of the school of Early Netherlandish painting.-Life and family:...
. When Matsys settled at Antwerp at the age of twenty-five, his own style contributed importantly to reviving Flemish art along the lines of
van EyckVan Eyck , also Van Eijk is a Dutch surname meaning "of Eyck" or "of Eijk" . Several important families and persons had this surname:-Van Eycks :...
and van der Weyden.
What characterizes Matsys in particular is a strong religious feeling, an inheritance from earlier schools. This feeling was permeated by a realism which often favored the grotesque. The faces of the boors of
SteenJan Havickszoon Steen was a Dutch genre painter of the 17th century . Psychological insight, sense of humour and abundance of colour are marks of his trade.-Life:...
or
OstadeAdriaen van Ostade was a Dutch genre painter.-Life:He was the eldest son of Jan Hendricx Ostade, a weaver from the town of Ostade near Eindhoven...
may well have had predecessors in the pictures of Matsys, though he was not inclined to use them in the same homely way. From the example of van der Weyden comes Matsys' firmness of outline, clear modelling and thorough finish of detail; from the van Eycks and Memling by way of Dirck Bouts, the glowing richness of transparent pigments.
The date of his departure from Leuven is 1491, when he became a master in the guild of painters at Antwerp. His most celebrated picture was executed in 1508 for the joiners' company in the cathedral of his adopted city. Next in importance is the Marys of Scripture round the Virgin and Child, ordered for a chapel in the cathedral of Leuven. Both
altarpieceAn altarpiece is a picture or relief representing a religious subject and suspended in a frame behind the altar of a church. The altarpiece is often made up of two or more separate panels created using a technique known as panel painting. It is then called a diptych, triptych or polyptych for two,...
s are now in public museums, one at Antwerp and the other at Brussels. They display an earnestness in expression, a minuteness of rendering, and subdued effects of light or shade. Matsys, like the early Flemish painters, lavishes care on jewelry, edgings of garments, and ornament in general.
Not much given to atmosphere, his paintings sometimes rely on the literalness of caricature: emphasizing the melancholy refinement of saints, the brutal gestures and grimaces of gaolers and executioners. Strenuous effort is devoted to the expression of individual character. A satirical tendency may be seen in the pictures of merchant bankers (
LouvreThe Musée du Louvre or officially the Grand Louvre — in English, the Louvre Museum or Great Louvre, or simply the Louvre — is the largest national museum of France, the most visited museum in the world, and a historic monument. It is a central landmark of Paris, located on the Right Bank of the...
and
WindsorWindsor Castle, in Windsor in the English country of Berkshire, is the largest inhabited castle in the world and, dating back to the time of William the Conqueror, is the oldest in continuous occupation...
), revealing their greed and avarice. His other impulse, dwelling on the feelings of tenderness, may be noted in two replicas of the Virgin and Child at
BerlinBerlin is the capital city and one of sixteen states of Germany. With a population of 3.4 million within its city limits, Berlin is Germany's largest city. It is the second most populous city and the eighth most populous urban area in the European Union...
and
AmsterdamAmsterdam is the capital and largest city of the Netherlands, located in the province of North Holland in the west of the country...
, where the ecstatic kiss of the mother seems rather awkward. An expression of acute despair may be seen in a
LucretiaLucretia is a legendary figure in the history of the Roman Republic. According to the story, told mainly by two Roman historians, Livy and Dionysius of Halicarnassus, her rape by the king's son and consequent suicide were the immediate cause of the revolution that overthrew the monarchy and...
in the museum at Vienna. The remarkable glow of the colour in these works, however, makes the
ManneristMannerism is a period of European art that emerged from the later years of the Italian High Renaissance around 1520. It lasted until about 1580 in Italy, when a more Baroque style began to replace it, but Northern Mannerism continued into the early 17th century throughout much of Europe...
exaggerations palatable.
But on the whole, the best pictures of Matsys are the quietest. His
Virgin and Christ,
Ecce HomoEcce Homo are the Latin words used by Pontius Pilate in the Vulgate translation of the , when he presented a scourged Jesus Christ, bound and crowned with thorns, to a hostile crowd shortly before his Crucifixion. The original Greek is Ἰδοὺ ὁ ἄνθρωπος . The King James Version translates the phrase...
and
Mater Dolorosa (London and Antwerp) display a serene and dignified mastery, gaining in delicacy and nuance in the works of his maturity. It is believed that he may have known the work of
Leonardo da VinciLeonardo di ser Piero da Vinci was an Italian polymath, scientist, mathematician, engineer, inventor, anatomist, painter, sculptor, architect, botanist, musician and writer....
in the form of prints made and circulated among northern artists.
Matsys had considerable skill as a portrait painter. His
Ægidius (Peter Gilles) which drew from
Thomas MoreSir Thomas More , also known as Saint Thomas More, was an English lawyer, scholar, author, and statesman....
a eulogy in
LatinLatin is an Italic language originally spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome. Through the Roman conquest, Latin spread throughout the Mediterranean and a large part of Europe...
verse, is but one of many, to which one may add the portrait of
Maximilian of AustriaMaximilian I of Habsburg was King of the Romans from 1493 and Holy Roman Emperor from 1508 until his death, but had ruled jointly with his father for the last ten years of his father's reign, from circa 1483...
in the gallery of Amsterdam. In this branch of his practice, Matsys was greatly influenced by his contemporaries
Lucas van LeydenLucas van Leyden , also named either Lucas Hugensz or Lucas Jacobsz, was a Dutch engraver and painter, born and mainly active in Leiden, who was among the first Dutch exponents of genre painting and is generally regarded as one of the finest engravers in the history of art...
and
Jan MabuseJan Mabuse was the name adopted by the Flemish painter Jan Gossaert; or Jennyn van Hennegouwe , as he called himself when he matriculated in the guild of St Luke, at Antwerp, in 1503.Nothing is known of his early life, but his works suggest that he stood in his first period under the influence of...
.
In his rendering of polished detail, he may lack the subtle modelling of
HolbeinHans Holbein the Younger was a German artist and printmaker who worked in a Northern Renaissance style. He is best known as one of the greatest portraitists of the 16th century. He also produced religious art, satire and Reformation propaganda, and made a significant contribution to the history...
and
DürerAlbrecht Dürer was a German painter, printmaker and theorist from Nuremberg. His prints established his reputation across Europe when he was still in his twenties, and he has been conventionally regarded as the greatest artist of the Northern Renaissance ever since...
. There is reason, however, to think him well acquainted with these German masters. He probably met Holbein more than once on his way to England. Dürer visited his house at Antwerp in 1520. Matsys also became the guardian of
Joachim Patinir'sJoachim Patinir, also called de Patiner , was a Flemish Northern Renaissance history and landscape painter from the area of modern Wallonia...
children after the death of that painter, who is believed to have worked on some of the landscapes in Matsys' pictures.
Death
Matsys died at Antwerp in 1530. That rigor of religious feeling, which could be said to have slumbered in him, was eventually fatal to some of his relatives. His sister Catherine and her husband suffered at Leuven in 1543 for what was then the capital offence of reading the
BibleThe Bible contains the central religious texts of Judaism and Christianity. Modern Judaism generally recognizes a single set of canonical books known as the Tanakh, or Hebrew Bible, as it is written almost entirely in the Hebrew language, with some small portions in Aramaic...
: he being decapitated, she buried alive in the square before the cathedral.
Legacy
His works include
A Portrait of an Elderly Man (1513),
The Money Changer and His Wife (1514), and
A Grotesque Old Woman (1515).
A Grotesque Old Woman (or
The Ugly Duchess) is perhaps the best-known of his works. It served as a basis for
John TennielSir John Tenniel was an English illustrator.He drew many topical cartoons and caricatures for Punch in the late 19th century, including the iconic dropping the pilot, but is best remembered today for his illustrations in Lewis Carroll's Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and Through the...
's depiction of the Duchess in
Alice's Adventures in WonderlandAlice's Adventures in Wonderland is a novel written by English author Charles Lutwidge Dodgson under the pseudonym Lewis Carroll. It tells the story of a girl named Alice who falls down a rabbit hole into a fantasy world populated by peculiar and anthropomorphic creatures. The tale is filled with...
. It is likely a depiction of a real person with
Paget's diseaseSir James Paget, a prolific surgeon and pathologist, described several diseases, including:* Paget's disease of bone * Paget's disease of the breast* Paget-Schroetter disease* Extramammary Paget's disease...
, though it is sometimes said to be a metaphorical portrait of the Duchess Margarete of Tyrol-Görz, who was known as
Maultasch, which, though literally translated "satchel mouth", was used to mean "ugly woman" or "whore" (because of her marital scandals).
Quentin's son,
Jan MatsysJan Matsys, Massys, Metsys, or Matsijs , was a Flemish painter. He was the son of Quentin Matsys and the father of Quentin Metsys the Younger....
, inherited the art but not the skill of his father. The earliest of his works, a
St Jerome dated 1537, in the gallery of Vienna, as well as the latest, a
Healing of Tobias of 1564, in the museum of Antwerp, are evidence of his tendency to substitute imitation for originality. Another son, Cornelis Matsys, was also a painter. Jan's son,
Quentin Metsys the YoungerQuentin Metsys the Younger was a Flemish Renaissance painter, one of several of his countrymen active as artists of the Tudor court in the reign of Elizabeth I of England...
, was an artist of the Tudor court, and painted the
Seive Portrait of
Elizabeth I of EnglandElizabeth I was Queen of England and Queen of Ireland from 17 November 1558 until her death. Sometimes called the Virgin Queen, Gloriana, or Good Queen Bess, Elizabeth was the fifth and last monarch of the Tudor dynasty...
.
The
asteroidthumb|260px|right|[[253 Mathilde]], a [[C-type asteroid]] measuring about across. Photograph taken in 1997 by the [[NEAR Shoemaker]] probe.Asteroids, sometimes called minor planets or planetoids, are small Solar System bodies in orbit around the Sun, especially in the inner Solar System; they are...
9569 Quintenmatsijs9569 Quintenmatsijs is a minor planet. It is named after the Flemish painter Quentin Matsys....
was named in his honour.
See also
- Early Renaissance painting
Renaissance painting bridges the period of European art history between the art of the Middle Ages and Baroque art. Painting of this era is connected to the "rebirth" of classical antiquity, the impact of humanism on artists and their patrons, new artistic sensibilities and techniques, and, in...
- List of Flemish painters
- Renaissance in the Netherlands
The Renaissance in the Low Countries is the cultural period that roughly corresponds to the 16th century in the Low Countries. In 1500 the Seventeen Provinces were in a personal union under the Burgundian Dukes, and with the Flemish cities as centers of gravity, culturally and economically formed...